Täuber, born in Erlangen in Bavaria, made his Bundesliga debut for FC Nürnberg in the 1978/79 season. He moved on to Schalke 04 via Stuttgarter Kickers and flourished as a striker with the Royal Blues. He joined Bayer 04 in 1987. In his first season playing for the Black and Reds, Täuber made 23 Bundesliga appearances and scored six goals. The left-footer had his biggest success with the Werkself that season in the UEFA Cup.
After a 3-0 defeat against Espanyol in the first leg of the final, Bayer 04 entertained the Spanish side in Leverkusen. Täuber came off the bench on 62 minutes with the scoreline at 1-0 in place of Tita who was on a yellow card. A minute later he provided the cross for Falko Götz to double the lead at 2-0. The Werkself scored a third to take the game into extra time and penalties. Täuber converted the crucial spot-kick to win the UEFA Cup.
He started the next season at Bayer 04 but was forced to end his career due to injury in November 1988. Following his playing career, he worked as a coach including with the Schalke Reserves and Schwarz-Weiß Essen. Klaus Täuber passed away on Saturday at the age of 65.
Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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